Persons who are employed in the construction or maintenance of elevated structures such as buildings, scaffolding, oil rigs, elevated pipelines and the like are frequently at risk of inadvertently falling from the structure. Thus, such persons may be required to wear a safety harness which is designed to prevent the person from falling from the structure. A conventional safety harness used for this purpose may include a harness which is fastened around the torso of the person and a lanyard which attaches the harness to the elevated structure. Accordingly, in the event that the person inadvertently falls from the structure, the harness and lanyard support the person's weight and prevent the person from falling to the ground.
Conventional safety harnesses may be constructed from a tough material such as nylon webbing or leather. The harness may include a “D” ring or other fitting which is secured to one end of the lanyard. The other end of the lanyard may be connected to the elevated structure using a suitable coupling.
Although they may be capable of supporting the weight of a worker in the event that the worker inadvertently falls from an elevated structure, conventional safety harnesses may not have a resilient construction. Therefore, conventional safety harnesses may abruptly stop the falling motion of the worker, subjecting the worker to a sudden and severe jolting impact which may potentially injure the worker.
Accordingly, a fall-arresting safety harness assembly which absorbs the energy of a person's falling motion and stops the fall in a non-abrupt manner in the event that the person falls from an elevated structure is needed.